


Reaching Out

by mansikka



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 18:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16500413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Snapshots of Eddie and Venom learning to be together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kampfhomo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kampfhomo/gifts).



> I didn't mean for Venom to come strike me as hard as it did, but here we are! This is just some fluffy thoughts put down into words... enjoy, if that's your kind of thing :)
> 
> This is for Kampfhomo, who, less than two weeks ago, piqued my curiosity in Venom, and has since traded homemade tater tot pics with me as well as a ton of fanart. We're in deep, my friend; I'm glad you're here with me! <3

He is _there_. Right in a corner of his imaginings, both absent and present in the back of his mind. Eddie reaches out within himself, carefully extending an idea that he hopes will feel like the offering of his hand.

Venom's own mind is in turmoil. Eddie can feel it, almost taste his distress on the back of his tongue. It is ash, and soot, and burning, that fire that almost consumed them writhing around and engulfing, a never-ending scream threatening to bubble up from his own throat. Though it is _Venom_ that is suffering, whose own thoughts won't let him shut out the memory of all those flames. Eddie feels them licking over his own skin and also Venom's, separate yet interwoven, together and yet not whole at all.

On this cramped couch, surrounded by mismatched furniture and wallpaper peeling from damp-filled walls, Eddie is both out of his depth and exactly where he's meant to be. He _feels_ that, the certainty of it more than anything he ever has in this world. Perhaps it's the symbiosis between them, the perfect fit he and Venom appear to have found in one another, but it doesn't feel forced, or that it's a thought that is anyone's but his own. _They_ feel new, and yet also eternal. A fixed, pivotal point in his existence, when he'd come to think his life had no meaning at all.

"Hey," he says, voice croaking, uncertain of what he means to say even if he does get his words out. "Hey. Are you in there?"

Venom shifts within him. Eddie can't tell right now whether he's trying to back away from him or acknowledge he hears him. He vows to study harder to get to know every nuance, every gesture or thought, so that he gets to truly know _Venom_. They're kind of stuck with one another now, after all.

 _Not stuck. Bonded_.

"Oh, you _are_ listening to me," Eddie says, pleased. He feels what has to be a huff, slings his arm around the back of the couch and turns just enough as though Venom is sat here with him. "Or at least, you can hear me."

_Always. Everything. Every thought._

"Then… can you hear what I'm thinking?" Eddie asks, thinking he'd feel more _violated_ by having someone permanently able to read his mind. That he doesn't should sound alarm bells, yet all he feels is calm. Excited even, maybe, for whatever is to come.

 _The essence. The essence of your thoughts_.

"You know you can talk in full sentences, right?" Eddie says, hoping to tease him. Hoping playfulness is going to be part of this _relationship_ with Venom. Because he can't be serious, and sober, and somber all the time. This is a whole new life for him now, and he means to start that life out right.

Venom doesn't answer. Eddie can feel him reaching out within him, like he's trying to _taste_ his thoughts. He is frustrated, and cautious, perhaps even a little afraid, Eddie realizes. There is no manual for how to get your _symbiote_ to open up to you, yet he has to try.

"Okay. So here's what I'm thinking," Eddie says getting comfortable, as though he wasn't already just that. "I'm thinking that I'm worried."

 _No need to worry. We will protect us_.

"No," Eddie says, gesturing with his hand. He half-wants to ask Venom to appear in front of him so he has an actual face to talk to, yet can feel that's the last thing Venom needs right now. "I'm not worried about that — about needing protection."

_This body is strong. Healthy._

"I'm not worried about that either."

_Our bond is also strong. Healthy._

There is doubt in Venom's thoughts, Eddie recognizes then, immediately shifts for them, shaking his head in denial.

"I'm not thinking about _that_. I mean, I _am_ ," Eddie amends, angry with himself for tripping over his own words. Aren't words his natural weapon, the one skill he clings on to, so that he doesn't feel like a waste in this world?

 _I like your words_.

Eddie smiles, ducks, even thinks he blushes, which is ridiculous. He's sat here in this shitty apartment with an alien symbiote in his head that is now as much a part of him as he is not. The whole world is crazy, changed yet unchanged. He has so many things he can do now that were nowhere near a possibility before all of this happened. And yet here he is, unable to stop grinning for the idea that Venom _likes_ the one thing about him that he is proud of.

 _There are more things. There are many things_.

It's crazy that he wants Venom's _opinion_ of him to be a good one, Eddie thinks, then realizes it's not so crazy at all.

_What… worries you?_

Eddie shakes his head, clearing his mind of the spiraling whirl of possibilities that are open to him now, sure it's going to take months to understand it all. Longer, probably. "You. _You're_ worrying me."

 _I will protect you_.

"It's not about that. It's not about that at _all_. I know; we've got to spend some time getting used to each other, we'll get to that. But it's… _V_. I'm not thinking about _that_."

 _...V_.

Venom likes this, Eddie knows he does, feels a rise in his synapses that he has to think is a smile.

"Yeah. _V_."

 _Eddie_. _What worries you? About me?_

"That your head is still in that fire, V."

_My head is here. In this room. In you._

"Well. _Sure_ ," Eddie agrees, absently scratching at the stubble on his chin. "But that doesn't mean whatever you're _thinking_ is here."

 _Explain_.

"Memories. You're remembering the fire. I mean, I know, it just happened. But I'm worried you can't stop thinking about it."

 _Don't like fire_.

"No. I know you don't."

 _Fire burns_.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does. But you're not in that fire now. _We_ ; we're not in it. We're right _here_. We're okay, V."

Eddie knows he's said the right thing, can feel that similar pleased rise for his use of the word _we_. He toys with it, molds it, says it on repeat within his thoughts. Venom stretches in response, humming beneath his skin in chase of the connection, until it feels to Eddie that's he's embraced in the strangest of hugs.

 _We are safe_.

"Yeah. We are," Eddie agrees, and though he hesitates before he does it, reaches up to pat the back of his neck where it feels like is Venom's core.

Venom likes it. pulses for it, and Eddie can feel him beginning to relax. Perhaps the words aren't so difficult to find after all.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

He doesn't like confrontation. Eddie paces his apartment both dreading the moment that they will sit down and talk, and wishing that it was over already. If it's possible, he can feel Venom doing the same second-guessing and inquisitive thinking as he glides back and forth inside his brain. This is an argument that came out of nowhere and yet at the same time is long overdue. The only thing that feels strange about it is that they've argued at all when they are so _connected_ most of the time, and how awful for it Eddie now feels in the aftermath.

"V, c'mon. Get out here," he says again, demanding the symbiote's attention and feeling him crawl further into his mind to escape.

He hadn't meant to shout. He knows it serves no purpose, since whether he's agitated or elated Venom already knows how he feels. But this blast of accusation that Venom didn't understand him, couldn't understand how harrowing it was to have to get used to sharing his body and mind has sent him retreating. It isn't even fair, Eddie knows it isn't. Venom is going through the exact same feelings, even if the circumstances of this symbiosis is so much different for each of them.

"V. We can't keep... if we aren't gonna talk every time we have a fight, this is gonna get real complicated real quick."

_Don't like fighting._

"No," Eddie says with a sigh and gentle pat to the back of his neck. "No, I don't like it either."

It's strange that this _being_ who had pinned him to a wall for a misplaced use of _that_ word, who Eddie had thought was constantly shouting when they had first joined, is just as unenthusiastic for arguments as he is. It's endearing, really, and keeps his hand in place, until he feels the reassuring bump beneath his skin in answer back.

_Angry, Eddie._

"Yeah, I know you are."

_You are angry._

"Not... I'm not angry at you," Eddie says, though they both know that's not true. He's angry at Venom, himself, and everything around them. He's angry at their situation, that these midnight snacks they keep getting to keep Venom's appetite satisfied barely make a difference to the city they live in. Not a day goes by when either he or one of his colleagues isn't reporting on the latest crime.

Eddie rolls his eyes, loathing that he can't find a way to justify this argument, and that he doesn't want to justify it at all. He's just feeling a little out of his depth today with everything, and has no particular reason why it's been set off. It isn't Venom's fault, but his own confusion and uncertainty flows through Eddie's veins, looping and doubling his own irrationalities tenfold, until it leaks out in the form of accusations and cruel taunts that he neither wants to voice, nor means.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I said what I said."

_Regret, Eddie. Regret this. Regret us._

"You... do?" Eddie says, his heart pounding in alarm, the sudden thought of losing Venom leaving his legs feeling like they may fail him. He hadn't been _that_ cruel, surely, not enough to drive him away?

_No. You regret._

Oh. "No," Eddie says as quick as the word can get off his tongue, "no, I _don't_. I don't regret _you_ , or _us_ , or any of this at all. I just... you don't just have down days back in... Klyntar?"

_Days are different. Not up, or down._

"I didn't mean _literally_ down," Eddie says, telling himself not to lose his patience again. "I just meant... a day, when it doesn't matter what you do, or think, or feel, everything just seems... hard. Or heavy."

 _Down_.

"Yeah. Down," Eddie agrees, imagining Venom tasting the word on his tongue trying to understand it.

 _Hungry_.

"Again?" Eddie asks, exasperated for the change of subject.

_Yes. No. When hungry, down._

"Well, yeah. I guess. Sort of, anyway," Eddie says, closing his eyes to the sourceless anger rising in him. "But are you? Hungry?"

 _Always_.

Eddie smiles at that, he can't help it. Wonders if this conversation might go better on a full stomach for them both. He whispers the suggestion to Venom in their shared mind, finding himself out on the street in seconds and thinking about which scum of humanity is going to be tonight's meal. Eddie insists on picking up some food for himself when they're done, planning on washing away that metallic taste lingering afterward with pepperoni and spicy sausage.

_I try?_

Eddie pauses with his second slice of pizza practically pressed to his lips, turning a fraction as Venom appears beside him still attached to his neck.

"Uh. Sure," he says, holding out the slice wondering if he might be about to lose a finger. He smiles as Venom sniffs suspiciously at the slice then reaches out with a delicate tentacle to hold it himself.

 _Very dead_.

"Yeah," Eddie agrees, smiling as he reaches for the pizza box for another slice, watching as Venom takes a hesitant bite. "Very dead. And seasoned. And processed."

_...good, Eddie._

"We like pepperoni, huh?" Eddie asks, pleased for something else to easily add to the tater tots and chocolate Venom insists on.

 _We do_.

It's so easy to settle Venom really, Eddie thinks, hit by a wave of guilt. For every expression of _we_ , or the slightest display of affection, and connection, Venom is happy. Unfurling within him like the strangest of stretching cats. And Eddie thrives on making him happy, he realizes what is probably a little late. There is a joy that winds its way through him every time he can feel Venom smile.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, V," he says, turning to watch those now-familiar eyes studying him just as he feels the same inquisitiveness inside. "I'm not angry at you, or blaming you, for anything. Nothing's wrong, okay?"

_No regret?_

"I don't regret a second of us, okay?" Eddie says, watching the careful way Venom finishes his pizza, nodding when he gestures to take another slice. "I just had a day when everything just felt too much. Too difficult. You know?"

_Bad chemicals._

Eddie snorts at the tentacle that jabs at his forehead, and after hesitating leans into it a little, smiling as it flattens out to almost cup his face. "Yeah, V. Bad chemicals."

_Happy now?_

There is uncertainty in Venom's voice that Eddie aches for hearing, wanting to fix it. He reaches out, sweeping his fingers over the soft inkiness before him, watching the way Venom curls around his hand. "Yeah, V. I'm happy now. You?"

_We are content._

Eddie grins at that, settling back more comfortably on the couch cushions. Maybe they've said everything they needed to, he thinks, glad for the soft warmth by his side.

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

Today has been _a day_.

Eddie rolls his neck as he proofreads his article for the third time, the words beginning to blur on the screen. His deadline is creeping up on him; the sooner he gets this emailed across, the sooner he can go home.

Or leave the office at least, he thinks, with an absent pat to the back of his neck for the disgruntled shimmer that races through him. Venom is _hungry_ , for something other than tater tots and chocolate. And the vegetables he tries to push on him every once in a while when Venom makes comments about them needing to be _healthy_.

"Almost done," Eddie mumbles as he squeezes his neck, dropping his hand back to the keyboard as he shifts around a couple of words. He's finally satisfied with a sentence that has been plaguing him, typing rapidly for a couple more minutes then hitting send with a groan of relief.

Eddie is only working from the office begrudgingly knowing he was in no mood to work today at all. If left to his own devices at home — and by that, he means the devices of _Venom_ — he knows he would have spent the day doing everything besides work. Now their evening is free and much of tomorrow too. Eddie is pleased with his decision, satisfied with a job well done as he pushes back his chair and stands.

Venom curls and stretches within him like a cat as the cold air hits them when they step outside, taking over Eddie's body as he decides which way to head. Eddie is happy to be carried, half-closing his eyes and letting Venom's movements lull him into an almost-stupor. It's best he checks out for this part anyway. Their agreement that they only feast on bad people, and what the definition of bad truly means has been hammered home and refined enough times now for Eddie not to feel the need to keep one eye open. He can ignore the strange taste on his tongue when Venom has eaten his fill, having taken to keeping gum in a couple of his pockets at all times in case Venom's hunger strikes and he's otherwise unprepared.

Within an hour they're home, a bag of take-out swinging from his fingers as he makes his way through to the kitchen to dig out a plate. Venom is happily curled around his shoulders, his head protruding out and watching in interest as Eddie dishes up.

"Wanna try this?" Eddie asks holding up a spring roll for Venom to try. He smiles as Venom sniffs at it in clear mistrust, lapping his tongue out over the end of it before delicately taking a bite.

For all those teeth Venom is _gentle_ when he's around him Eddie thinks as he watches him eat, braced for him to spit the spring roll back out in disgust. But he doesn't, surprising Eddie by nudging his head against his shoulder in a now-familiar request for more. Venom finishes the roll in a couple of bites then picks up Eddie's plate for him, taking him over to the couch.

_Tired, Eddie. Eat._

He is exhausted. He can feel it deep in his bones, too many hours of work just so he can get ahead of himself, trying to establish what is his new normal. It's taking much longer than he thought it would getting back into a new work routine, though perhaps that's because he's got two sets of thoughts to be thinking these days instead of one. Eddie has energy that isn't really his, as well as sleepiness that is all his own. Interest in things that before he wouldn't have given a second glance, as well as those already familiar. Venom is _curious_ about the world; so much of Eddie's day is spent trying to satisfy that curiosity because of how happy it makes him. And besides all of that, Eddie has adjusted to a new metabolism, and temperature, and even the reality that he'll never truly be alone.

Not that he minds that, Eddie thinks, scraping up a forkful of food as he watches black ooze pour onto the cushion beside him as Venom takes shape. He nods when a black tendril reaches out for the remote, happy for Venom to choose whatever he wants to watch.

It's been a few months now since he and Venom became, well, _this_. But Eddie can honestly say that for all of the people he's shared his life with in the past, he has never felt as content as he does with Venom. Not even Anne, who he'd thought he'd never get over, who at one time just the sight of would make his heart ache. Maybe it's weird that it's an _alien_ that's made him feel like the best version of himself, but that's just the way his life is for him now.

_Thinking, Eddie. Eat. Think later._

Eddie snorts in agreement, watching whatever mindless nonsense that is blaring at him from the screen as he eats. He drops his head back on the couch in between bites, smiling for the warmth around his neck that feels like a silky arm. This need for physical comfort and affection is a newer thing between them, born of a dinner with Anne and Dan one evening when Venom had questioned him about their _closeness_ on the way home. When Eddie had climbed into bed that night Venom had been with him, manifesting right there on the sheets to wrap Eddie up in his arms. It should have felt _alien_ , or at least a little strange, yet to Eddie it felt so normal, allowing him to sink into the best night's sleep he'd had in months.

Ever since there have been numerous hugs between them, never awkward despite how bizarre their arrangement might be. Eddie relishes in it, the ease with which they fit together in the simplest of ways without anything being complicated. These small nudges of affection between them are things he's come to cherish or look forward to when his day is going rough.

_Stop._

Eddie smiles, opening his mouth for the fork suspended in front of him, nudging against Venom in thanks. "That was _us_ thinking. Thinking about _us_. Not other stuff."

 _Eat_.

Eddie can feel that pleased rise in him anyway, despite his insistence. Venom _likes_ these moments when he reminisces about the moments they have shared. " _Eating_."

By the time he's finished, Eddie is laid sprawled out the full length of the couch, cradled in a thick black blanket that molds against his shape. There is a soft massage of tentacles over his back and shoulders that leaves him sleepy enough to close his eyes. And since he doesn't have work until tomorrow afternoon, he's happy to fall asleep right here.

This thing between he and Venom is leagues away from anything conventional. And were it up to certain people, their symbiosis would be studied in a lab. But this is their life, and it's a good one, as messed up as it might seem to anyone observing from the outside.

 _Happy, Eddie_.

Eddie nuzzles against the approximation of Venom's neck in answer, letting out a contented sigh. "Yeah, V. We are."

***


End file.
